


Discretion

by dearygirl



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-18
Updated: 2013-08-18
Packaged: 2017-12-23 23:19:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/932261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dearygirl/pseuds/dearygirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Missing moments from Season 2.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Mistake

“I don’t like where that’s going.”

 

He watches Annie round the corner, her hair swinging gently as she looks back one more time. From the library he hears his name, followed by derisive laughter. He turns to find the entire gaggle of Britta-Fever Fans glaring daggers at him. Britta stands amongst them, a haughty and yet daring smile on her face.

 

Jeff clenches his jaw and turns to stalk off down the hallway, tugging his books up tighter to his chest. Dammit, he hasn’t even been back at Greendale for ten minutes and already everything sucks.

 

Nothing is worth this.

 

He’s so busy fuming and self-pitying that he’s not paying attention as he rounds the corner, almost running full-tilt into someone small and brunette.

 

“Oh.” She tumbles back a few steps, holding her hand to her chest.

 

“What are you doing?” he growls low.

 

“Um.” Two spots of pink bloom over Annie’s cheeks.

 

Jeff looks down the hallway over her head, then sighs in exasperation and grabs her arm, yanking her into the first empty classroom and shoving the door closed behind him.

 

“Annie, listen to me.”

 

But as soon as he turns toward her he realizes that this was a bad, monumentally bad, idea because a slow smile is spreading across her face and before he can say anything else she’s launching herself at him.

 

“Woah! Wait!” He panics and raises his books in front of his face in a defensive measure so that she knocks into him awkwardly. “Annie. Stop.”

 

He waits until he can feel her move an inch or so away, then chances a peek at her around his book. She’s dropped back to her feet but still standing too close and smiling all coy and flirtatiously, twisting that damn piece of hair around her finger again. Jeff lowers his books and maneuvers them under one arm, warding Annie off with his other hand. He presses back slowly on her shoulder, moving her backwards until she’s perched on the edge of a desk.

 

With as stern a look as he can muster he says, “Stay” and then moves back a few paces.

 

Annie’s shoulders drop as she frowns at him. “Jeff.” And her voice is a touch too whiny because the pressure in his head intensifies and he’s throwing his books on the teacher’s desk with too much force.

 

“Annie,” he says darkly. “You’re a smart girl. Do you not know what ‘discretion’ actually means?”

 

She looks indignant for a moment so he continues, “ It means that you can’t look at me like that and you can’t call me babe and lurk around corners and hug me inappropriately and it means that for all intents and purposes that kiss last May never happened.”

 

“How was it inappropriate? Everyone else was hugging.”

 

He raises an eyebrow, “There was lingering.”

 

“Oh.” Annie crosses her arms over her chest, “So lingering hugs aren’t okay but you get to drag me into a dark classroom anytime you want?”

 

The pointed look she gives him makes his mouth drop open.

 

“That… this is not going to be a thing,” he stutters out, not really sure if his words are making actual sense.

 

She seems to melt a little at his discomfort and how the hell does she do that because her eyes are wide and truly curious with just the subtlest hint of smoldering I can be an adult, watch me simmering under the surface. He absolutely cannot have her looking at him like that right now.

 

“It was a mistake,” he blurts out, sounding harsher than he intended and she shrinks back in surprise.

 

“You’re a teenager and I’m an adult and It. Was. A. Mistake. Nothing is ever going to come of it other than complete silence from both of us,” he continues. “It’s not going to happen again, I’m not going to be your boyfriend, we are not going to walk around here holding hands, and you are going to stop acting childish and talking about fucking make-out meters. Got it?” He leans forward, his palm pressed into the desk, face flushed and heated.

 

Annie’s staring at the ground with her chin pulled into her chest. When she finally looks up her eyes are flashing with an intensity he is not expecting.

 

Jeff sort of forgets how to breathe.

 

“You keep saying that,” she whispers.

 

He stares at her for a moment as she pulls herself together, standing taller, “You keep saying that but you kissed me back.”

 

“Yeah,” he breathes out in quick defeat, because… well, he did.

 

“Why?”

 

Jeff searches her eyes and thinks about that night, how in that moment she wasn’t nineteen and he wasn’t Jeff Winger and this thing between them wasn’t wrong, and how the second she kissed him anything resembling reality had fluttered away into the void of who the hell even cares.

 

Of course, he can’t actually tell her this. This is reality.

 

“I don’t…. Annie…” And he not even sure when they started moving toward each other but suddenly she’s standing too close and her hand is on his arm, fingers clutching at the material of his shirt before she presses up and he bends and… what was that about reality again?

 

There are alarm bells going off in his head- red flags and shit- but it only makes him pull her up closer and tighter, probably kissing her too hard because she gasps against him as he tugs her lower lip between his teeth.

 

She doesn’t try to pull away though, just crosses her wrists behind his neck and holds on, so he fists his hand into her hair at the nape of her neck to keep her still and manages to spin them around so that she’s pressing back against the desk.

 

“Jeff,” she murmurs as they break apart for air.

 

He ignores her and trails his lips down her jaw, nipping at the sensitive skin under her ear until she chokes back a moan and tilts her head to allow him better access. Her skin warms under his ministrations and he smoothes his tongue over the spot before kissing down the line of her throat, hands sliding to her waist.

 

But then his lips brush up against the straps of her backpack and reality rushes back with a string of mental curse words and he suddenly can’t move away fast enough. In his haste to untangle himself he knocks his hand into a pencil cup and pens go scattering everywhere across the floor in a loud cascade of sound as he lurches back and away from her.

 

Fuuuuuuuuuck.

 

The room falls silent and Jeff has to count backwards from ten (twice) before he can even look in her direction again.

 

She’s leaning on the desk for support, looking a little dazed. Her lips are red, face flushed and she looks like she’s trying to figure out what to do with her own hands.

 

He hates himself right now.

 

“This is not going to be a thing,” he mutters, uselessly.

 

Annie’s still breathing erratically when she looks up at him. “Okay.” But something sly skitters across her face and… that’s not… shit.

 

Jeff scowls and turns away. “We’re going to be late for class.”

 

She nods quickly and stoops down to start gathering up the fallen pens. He sighs and moves to help her but as they reach for the same pen their fingers brush and she looks up at him sweetly, blushing.

 

Jeff swallows hard and stands, pulling her with him, but making sure to keep her braced away from his body.

 

“We’re going to be late. Leave it.” He grabs his books and stalks towards the door. Annie looks perplexed as she takes in the disarray they’ve left behind on the desk, where it’s almost obvious what’s just happened.

 

“Leave it Annie,” he repeats and opens the door.

 

She nods and scurries after him, smoothing her hair down with one hand.

 

As they make their way to the classroom she chatters nervously but he can’t quite look her in the eye.

 

 

~*~*~*

 

 

Jeff gingerly makes his way through the hallway, each step a straining effort for his aching muscles. He briefly considers curling up on one of the couches in the library and sleeping it all off there. Hell, he spent three days last year sleeping in his car. He’s almost used to the homeless bum thing by now. And it’s not like his fold out couch is any better.

 

As he passes by the library he chances a glance in through the glass doors, startled to see someone sitting at the table in the study room. He stops and lets out a sigh, pushing through the double doors after only a brief hesitation.

 

Annie’s sitting in her normal spot, hands folded in front of her. When Jeff limps unto the room and eases gently into his chair she looks unsurprised. He faces her direction; legs sprawled out in front of him.

 

She eyes him in concern, “Are you sure you’re okay to leave?”

 

“I’m pretty sure there’s nothing that the Greendale infirmary can do for me that a glass of scotch and a shower can’t.”

 

Annie flushes and stares down at her hands.

 

“What are you still doing here?”

 

She doesn’t look up, “Waiting for you.”

 

Jeff rubs his hand over his face, “Annie,” he says warningly.

 

“I know. I was serious about what I said before.” She finally looks up at him, her nose scrunched up, “You still kind of smell like pee.”

 

“Great.”

 

He slouches down further in the chair, resting his head back and closing his eyes. Annie’s quiet again and he has to fight down this urge to continue being an asshole.

 

It’s unnerving because it’s counterintuitive to everything last year when these Annie-centered moments had only ever prickled up a sense of protectiveness or general feeling of hey, I can be a good guy why not try every once in awhile? Now he just wants to yell at her and be a douche and make her go away.

 

Either way, he’s screwed. Because no matter what, she’s still Annie.

 

He stares at the inside of his eyelids and sighs, “I’m sorry.”

 

She doesn’t say anything and he’s momentarily confused. This is the part that’s always been easy. He acts like an idiot, learns his lesson, apologizes and Annie instantly melts into forgiveness.

 

It doesn’t feel like there’s any melting going on so he cracks an eyelid open.

 

She’s staring down at the table, biting her lip. “What are you sorry for?”

 

“Geez Annie.”

 

“I just mean-” She squares her shoulders, “You have a lot to feel bad about. I just wanted to know exactly what part of it you were apologizing for.”

 

He stares at her until she finally meets his eyes. Fuck. She looks sad. Actual sad, not even just I’m trying to manipulate you sad. For the first time he wonders what the last three months have been like for her, what it means now that he’s been added to this list of things she’s been disappointed by in life.

 

The fact that it’s the first time he’s even been bothered to consider this sort of cements in his mind the fact that this whole thing is a terrible idea.

 

“All of it. Annie… for everything. I’m sorry.”

 

Annie nods and moves to stand up, “Okay.”

 

“Okay?” he repeats.

 

She shrugs, “What else is there?”

 

Jeff stares at a point on the desk. “Nothing I guess,” he mumbles and pushes down the unexplainable surge of what feels like disappointment.

 

“I’m glad you didn’t die today Jeff.”

 

When he turns his head to look back at her she’s in the doorway, smiling. It doesn’t quite meet her eyes but it’s something.

 

Jeff chokes out a huff of dry laughter, “Me too.”

 

And then she’s gone.


	2. Circumstantial

Annie stands with Abed and Troy, circled around a trashcan in front of the library. They briefly consider tossing in a match to destroy all offending materials but none of them are sure how flammable or explosive chloroform is (and drugging an innocent man was bad enough, they don’t need to add arson to the list of illegal activities for the night) so they settle for piling a bunch of wadded up newspapers on top of the rag and bottle of chloroform and then perform a complicated handshake to cement their promise to never reveal the details of what really happened in Alan’s office.

 

They don’t see Jeff saunter up until he’s standing a few feet away behind Annie.

 

“You know what’s weird?” All three of them jump and turn to him with looks of panic-laced guilt. “Right before I left the party a member of the maintenance crew came stumbling in, rambling about being attacked and  _chloroformed_  by a group of crazy teenagers. You guys wouldn’t know anything about that would you?”

 

He arches one eyebrow, glancing at each of them in turn.

 

Abed and Troy look side-ways at each other. Abed opens his eyes really wide and Troy responds with a single nod.

 

“It was her.” They both point and then begin backing away slowly.

 

Annie gasps and spins around just in time to see them both turn on their heels and take off running towards the parking lot, Troy falling behind as he cries, “This night sucks! I hate it! And I bought a new suit and everything!”

 

“Wow. Abed is reeeeally fast,” Jeff squints after them.

 

“Yup. Ha. Ha. Okay, I gotta go now. Bye.” Annie says in a rush, inching away from him.

 

“Hold it.”

 

She freezes and looks up at him wide-eyed.

 

“Jeff,” She’s trying to keep her voice calm. “I want you to remember that we did this for you.”

 

He raises an eyebrow as he takes a step closer, hands shoved in his pockets, and looks down at her with a tilted smile. “You  _chloroformed_  a janitor?”

 

“Weeeeelll.” Her hands twist together nervously as she looks everywhere but at his face. “It was an accident?”

 

“Oh. You, what? Tripped onto his face and just happened to be holding a rag soaked in chloroform? Yeah, I’ve heard that can happen.”

 

“Okay. I’m sorry! But Jeeeeff!” Annie stomps her foot, “What else were we supposed to do?”

 

He inches even closer and leans toward her so that she has to tilt her chin up to hold his gaze.

 

“Here’s an idea: nothing. You do nothing. You leave me alone. Let me figure out my own shit.”

 

“Please,” she scoffs, “Do you not know us at all?”

 

A muscle in his jaw twitches and she can tell he’s trying to hold back a smile. It triggers a brief little twinge of relief somewhere deep inside her chest - also, a comfortable familiarity in knowing exactly what to do next.

 

She sighs in exaggerated fashion and looks down at the ground, scuffs the toe of her shoe for good measure. “You’re not really mad.” Looks up. Flutters eyelashes. “Are you?”

 

Jeff shakes his head and scowls playfully, “Damn. You.”

 

The Disney Face vanishes as Annie beams and bounces up on her toes. “Admit it, you love us. You  _care_  about us,” she sing-songs gleefully.

 

“I can neither confirm nor deny such accusations.” He shrugs, “Maybe I’m still just using you guys to do all my homework.”

 

Annie rolls her eyes, “Please. No one believes  _that_  anymore. Not even you would dance in a  _pop-and-lock-athon_  just to manipulate us into doing things for you. It’s-”

 

She freezes then because Jeff’s gaze has slipped down and he’s watching her hands where they’re fussing with his tie and… _they’re fussing with his tie?_ Why, why, WHY is she  _touching_  his tie?

 

And WHY isn’t she moving away?

 

Her heart rate quickens as they both stare at where her hands are now just pressed against his chest. After a moment, simultaneously, their gazes drift northward again, meet and hold.

 

_Oh God. No no no no no. WHY? Oh, but his eyes…_

For one brief moment it had been normal, it had been like last year – this easy little push and pull they had discovered somewhere around the time he called her out for being selfish – before pencil skirts and frilly blouses and the kissing and stupid stupid feelings that’s she’s tried to shove away because he’s GROSS but then  _this_  happens and…

_WHY. WHY. WHY._

 

He’s looking down at her darkly and she licks her lips nervously, thinks about that kiss from last week, wonders if he’ll ever kiss her like that again. If  _anyone_ will.

 

She shivers and pulls her hand away.

 

Jeff clears his throat and glances up at the sky. “I should go.”

 

“Oh.”

 

“Yeah. I should-” He cuts himself off, frowning, and looks back down at her, “You’re good?”

 

Annie nods as he takes a large step backwards and then pivots on his heel in the other direction.

 

A suffocating wave of emotion crashes over her but she forces it away with a swallow.

 

“I’ll see you tomorrow Jeff!” she calls after him, hoping it doesn’t sound too much like a question.

 

He mutters something she barely hears. It sounds like, “Bye Annie.”

 

As he disappears around the corner she lets out a tiny shout of frustration and aims a kick at the trashcan.

 

They can’t go back. They can’t be the alternate universe version of themselves where that kiss never actually happened, where they are still friends who push and pull each other to middle ground, where she can still revel in the zipping thrill of being near him and seeing the possibility of  _want_  in his eyes.

 

No. It  _did_ happen. Tension and friendship exploded into awkwardness and whether or not anyone actually acknowledges it, everything is different.

 

Sorry, Annie Edison, you cannot have it both ways.

_Damn his stupid ties._


	3. Humanity

_“This is no God.”_

 

Jeff makes his way across campus, fists clenched at his sides, his entire body numb with anger and this little nagging something that makes him want to lean over into the bushes and throw up.

 

Fear? Pshhhh. Yeah, right. Jeff Winger is not a pussy. Jeff Winger does not DO fear.

 

No, no, this is the realization that  _everything_  is wrong. Every conviction and belief, every principal of self-government that he’s prided himself on his entire life – is wrong. It’s ALL wrong.

 

Shit, what’s the point of any of this?

 

“Save the pelicans?”

 

He freezes mid-step and pivots slowly in the direction of the fluttery, familiar voice. Annie’s only a few feet away in front of the ridiculously elaborate “Save the Gulf” display. She’s standing close to some guy Jeff’s never seen, her hand resting lightly above his elbow.

 

Jeff scowls and stomps over.

 

When he reaches Britta he grabs one of the fliers out of her hand and waves it around.

 

“ _Save the pelicans_? Why bother? They’re all going to die eventually anyway. Just. Like. Us.”

 

Britta scowls and tries to wrench the flier out of his grasp. They grapple with it for a moment until it rips in half. “Ugh. What is your deal?” She smacks him in the chest with her half.

 

“ _My deal?_  My deal, Britta, is that you spend all this time and effort screaming at people about things that no one else cares about. Or cares  _enough_  about to give up precious time and money, when they could be frittering it all away on frappaccinos and hours on the couch watching American Idol. What’s the point huh? What’s. The. Point? Nothing’s ever going to change. And in the end, we’re all DEAD.”   
  
As he talks he slowly rips up what’s left of the flier into little pieces that fall scattered around their feet.

 

Britta’s lips purse and twitch in that way that means she’s winding up for a good and long  _Jeff Winger you are a complete tool_  sermon of self-righteousness when Annie giggles again. They both turn as one, identical looks of annoyance coloring their features. 

 

Annie, oblivious to Jeff’s meltdown and obvious pain and suffering is still smiling up at the nameless random idiot that’s drooling over her like an un-neutered puppy.

 

“It’s just so sad,” she’s saying. “All those animals covered in oil? They’re so helpless. The pictures make me want to cry.”

 

The guy nods intently, “Oh yeah, me too.”

 

Annie beams up at him.

 

Jeff snorts, “Seriously? Have some dignity man.”

 

Annie looks over, startled. “What?”

 

Beside him, Britta makes a scoffing, high-pitched laugh. “Dignity? Please.” She holds out her hands. “Pot, meet Kettle. Kettle, meet Pot. Oh hi Pot, I’m a self-absorbed douchebag, how about you?”

 

Jeff dismisses whatever the hell kind of point she’s trying to make with a wave of his hand and zeroes in on Annie, who has _actually_   _resumed talking about fluffy-wuffy pelican babies and fluttering her eyes and DOESN’T SHE REALIZE HE IS HAVING A CRISIS HERE?_

 

Jeff actually feels all the blood rushing to his head like he’s about to have some kind of mini stroke or something.

 

Screw the pelicans.

 

“The cute ones are probably going to die first,” he blurts out.

 

And it must come out louder than he intends because everyone in the general vicinity sort of stops and stares. Annie’s mouth drops open. Behind him Jeff can practically hear Britta convulsing with some combination of rage and semi-maniacal glee at Jeff once again making a spectacle of himself.

 

“Jeff, what’s going on?” Annie says slowly.

 

Random Idiot glances between them, takes note of the look on Jeff’s face and quietly inches away.

 

For a brief moment Jeff has a flickering sense of  _I’m officially a crazy person_  realization. No longer the suave, silver-tongued lawyer, he’s now been reduced to that guy that screams at wide-eyed teenagers in the middle of a community college campus for no reason other than the fact that he’s getting older by the day and NOTHING IN THE WORLD CAN STOP THAT and… okay, yeah, there’s the crazy again.

 

“Oh nothing,” he snarls. “Absolutely nothing. Which is all any of this is ever going to amount to.”

 

“Okay? You’re not making a lot of sense right now.” She inches toward him like she’s going to rest her hand on his arm but Jeff shrugs out of her reach.

 

“ _Sense_? You know what doesn’t make sense? If I don’t eat bacon, I might still have a heart attack. If I don’t drive drunk I might still get in a car accident. And if I don’t like flying I can avoid planes. But nothing’s stopping a plane from falling out of the sky and ONTO MY HOUSE.”

 

Annie’s eyes widen.

 

Britta snorts, “Oh, it’s always about you isn’t it? THAT’S what’s wrong with this country! We’re so self-absorbed with our own immortality that we’re blinded to the destruction we’re reigning down on this planet!” Her last few words get shouted in the direction of nearby passersby who shoot her looks of mild annoyance.

 

Annie and Jeff ignore her

 

“Jeff, seriously?”

 

He clenches his jaw, inhaling loudly through his nose, “I got the results of my blood test.”

 

Annie’s lips part in a silent gasp. She moves closer and finally manages to grab hold of his sleeve. “What is it?” she asks quietly, her eyes searching his face frantically.

 

“I have high cholesterol,” he relents.

 

She continues to stare at him as if she’s waiting for more. When he doesn’t say anything her lips quirk up into an amused grin. “Is that it? Jeff, it’s not that big a deal! You scared me!” Her hand presses to her chest as she lets out a deep breath. “You can take medication for that.” And then she laughs reassuringly and pats his arm.

 

She’s laughing? She thinks this is  _funny_? How can she think this is  _funny_?

 

“Awww. Did poor Jeff finally realize that he’s not a perfect human specimen?” Britta’s fake pouty voice cuts into his thoughts and he tries to level her with a glare that she only returns with a roll of her eyes.

 

Annie continues, “You know, my dad has high cholesterol. It’s not-” The words die in her throat as Jeff whips his head back around to stare at her incredulously.

 

“What?!”

 

She shakes her head in confusion and then maybe a little bit of fear as his face goes red.

 

“Fuuuuuu….” Jeff makes a strangled noise and pushes past her, muttering obscenities under his breath as he stalks back in the direction of the cafeteria.

 

 

 

~*~

 

 

 

He’s feels more relaxed than he’s been in long while as he makes his way to the parking lot, having left Pierce and Troy bouncing off the walls of the library in an ice cream-induced sugar rush. Across the quad he sees Annie and Brita emerging from the gym. They both have loose, damp hair and Britta is wearing a pair of sweatpants and what looks to be Troy’s football jersey half hanging off her shoulder. The two women hug before parting ways.

 

Jeff smiles lightly as Annie walks in his direction. She’s wearing Abed’s Boondocks shirt and a pair of red jersey shorts that hang down below her knees. When she catches Jeff’s eye she sighs and looks down at her completely un-Annie-like ensemble.

 

“I look ridiculous.”

 

“Nah.” Jeff shrugs because no, she does not look ridiculous and anything else he would normally (if this were  _any_ other woman) say would be entirely inappropriate.

 

There’s a brief mental gymnastics routine in his head as he fights back an utterly irrational jealousy of Abed and an image of Annie in a button-down dress shirt ( _his_  dress shirt) while simultaneously perusing his endless arsenal of snarky one-liners.

 

“Looks like the rescue workers got all the oil out of your little duckling feathers.” He flicks at her hair and grins.

 

_Cue mental pat on the back. Well done Winger._

 

Annie’s smile falters and she stares blankly up at him.

 

_Crap._

He holds up his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay. I know. The oil spill is no laughing matter. Who do I make the check payable to?”

Nope. Still the wrong thing to say. Annie’s expression darkens as she steps in closer.

 

“What is wrong with you?” she hisses.

 

“Uhh. Well, sometimes I can be  _too_  awesome.” He gives her his best default charming smile – raised eyebrow, crooked grin.

 

Annie’s eyes narrow as she searches his face for something.

 

Apparently she doesn’t find it because she just frowns and shakes her head. “You’re a jerk,” she mutters and turns away.

  
Okay, honestly. He doesn’t care. He’s a jerk. It’s true. (Actually, he’d probably even use a stronger word here but it’s Annie so yeah, “jerk” works). But here’s the thing, if he’s going to have people thinking that and calling him names to his face, he at least wants to have some idea of what he actually did.

 

Against his better judgment he jogs after her.

 

“Hey, wait.”

 

She doesn’t slow down but looks sideways at him as he catches up.

 

“Annie, I-”

“Were you really going to take Pierce to the morgue?”  
 

“What?” THAT’S what she’s actually upset about right now?

 

She stops and widens her eyes pointedly in a clear expression of “DUH.”

 

That  _look_. Dammit.

 

“Yeeeeees. But.” He holds up a finger for emphasis. “Intent without action is not a crime.”

 

Annie looks appropriately disgusted. “Jeff, I’m not some random member of the jury that you can just… verbally  _seduce_ into submission.”

 

His eyebrows fly up into his hairline.

 

“You think I’m seducing you?” And okay, there’s maybe a little bit of a  _believe me babe, if Jeff Winger is seducing you, you’d know it_  behind his words.

 

_Christ._

 

“I’m. No! Jeff. NO!” She splutters. “Not like that.”

 

He laughs (mainly for his own benefit because he needs to not stare at the way her blush is spreading down her neck). “Whatever. You’re the last person who should be lecturing me on, what was the word you used again?  _Seducing_  people for personal gain.”

 

She freezes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

 

“Hey,” he shrugs. “I may know how to verbally beat a jury panel into submission. But you’re guilty of pretty much the exact same thing. You just have a different MO. How much money did you make today just by throwing out a few well placed smiles and hair flips?”

 

Annie’s face crumples almost immediately and it’s like a punch to the gut that leaves him winded.

 

“Hey, it’s not a bad thing, I-”

 

“Britta’s right,” she murmurs.

 

“Well that’s a sentence that should never be repeated. And also,  _what_?”

 

She’s nodding to herself, staring fixedly at a spot on his shirt. “I manipulate people. I do. I’m one of those  _girls_.” Her nose scrunches up like it’s a dirty word that leaves a foul taste in her mouth.

 

Jeff pinches the bridge of his nose. Trying to keep up with the train of this conversation is making his head spin. This girl is exhausting.

 

“Look. Annie, you know what you want. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

 

“And if people get hurt?”

 

“Then people get hurt! It happens!”

 

She’s frowning at him, disapproval written all over her face.

 

“Hey,” he points at her accusingly, “You come to the guy with a broken moral compass, you’re gonna have to deal with getting advice that doesn’t exactly point due north toward pure honorability.”

 

“You don’t have to be like that you know.”

 

He shakes his head smugly, “Don’t be so sure. I can’t always be the image of me that you have in your head.”

 

Annie looks up in surprise, her shoulders slumping a bit. “You’re right.” The look in her eyes remains dark though, determined. “And neither can I.”

 

She turns and walks away. This time Jeff doesn’t follow.

 


	4. Design

The sun has already dipped low into the horizon when the last news van drives away, the crowd dispersing into the night.

 

Annie perches at the edge of the stage, swinging her legs back and forth, hunched over with her chin cupped in the palm of her hand. She stares intently at the outline of the Greendale library and administrative buildings.

 

Everything looks too bland and non-descript in the fading light. It could almost be any school, in any state – any _community college_  at least. She’s pretty sure there’d be no mistaking Greendale for a Harvard or a Columbia or even a University of Denver.

 

Of course, Harvard doesn’t have a Space Bus. (She thinks.)

 

Out of the corner of her eye she sees someone slide up and take a seat next to her.

 

 Annie closes her eyes and counts to twenty.

 

“I’m sorry about today,” she finally whispers, quietly.

 

Jeff huffs out a laugh. “Well. We probably wouldn’t have even been there if I hadn’t ratted us out about the flag.”

 

Annie tries not to smile but she can’t help the way her lips twitch in amusement. She ducks her head down and Jeff laughs again.

 

“If you imply in any way that you’re proud of me for that, I  _will_  kill myself.”

 

It takes a second but she finally manages to cough back a grin and shake her head with a look of faux seriousness. Jeff just scrubs his hands over his face, letting out a sound of mixed irritation and  _wow, who the hell am I now_?

 

Annie really really wishes she had an answer to that question. For both of them.

 

The faint sound of crickets fills the air all around them and it’s long moment before either of them speaks again. Annie picks at a stray string in the seam of her jumpsuit.

 

“You were really going to transfer because of our  _design_?”

 

She looks at him, startled. He’s squinting into the distance.

 

“I-”

 

But she’s not really sure what to say, if there’s even anything  _to_  say that won’t make it all sound utterly ridiculous.

 

_Because this little bubble of security we had built around ourselves burst at the beginning of the year and I feel like it’s my fault. And I feel like everyone else thinks it’s my fault.  And maybe I really would like at least one part of my life not to be a complete joke._

 

When he looks back down at her a crooked smile plays across his face and she knows she doesn’t need to explain. Of _course_  he gets it. He’s been here the whole time (even if it hasn’t always felt like it lately) and he’s got this uncanny way of seeing the things that she doesn’t want to admit are there.

 

It’s both relieving and heartbreaking at the same time.

 

She sighs and inches closer to rest her head down against his shoulder. Above them the first stars begin to glitter in the night sky.

 

“It _has_  been a weird year,” he says quietly.

 

Annie nods against him. She’s pretty sure she doesn’t need to add that _he’s_  been weird, like they’re starting all over again and he’s trying extra hard not to let these crazy people actually be his friends.

 

“It’ll get better.”

 

The hint of promise there makes Annie smile.

 

“Come on though. You have to admit, that flag was kind of funny.” He raises an eyebrow and tilts his head down to meet her eyes.

 

Annie snorts, trying to duck her face under a curtain of hair. Jeff laughs and shifts, curling his arm up around her shoulder, turning her against him in a side hug.

 

His warmth envelops her and she has to hold back a sigh of contentment.

 

“I should have called you this summer.”

 

For a split second she thinks she’s imagined it, like those mini-daydreams she has in the study room where he’s looking at her instead of Britta. But her face is pressed against his chest and she can feel the way he exhales as he speaks.

 

She closes her eyes, not entirely sure what that means. It feels like enough for right now though. She settles for shrugging her shoulders and inching slightly closer. His arm stays where it is.

 


	5. Acting

“Abed! Wait up!”

 

Annie weaves through the crowded hallway, out of breath as she catches up with him in front of the double doors. “Can I change in your dorm room? The Dean  _says_  that he had all the surveillance cameras removed from the women’s room. But, well, it’s The Dean.”

 

“Sure Annie.” He glances down at her outfit. “Jeans do seem out of character for you.”

 

“Well, if you guys had waited for me it would have made more sense.” She loops her arm through his and they step outside into the sunlight. “I wish I could have seen Jeff’s face.”

 

“It’s can’t be hard to imagine. It was a typical Jeff Winger character moment.”

 

Annie giggles, “He _is_  kind of predictable isn’t he?”

 

Abed thinks about this. “His storylines do usually follow similar arcs.”

 

“Storylines?”

 

“Unlike yours.”

 

“Wait. What?” She regards him warily. Whenever Abed heads down this path of meta rationalization it always ends in the kind of uncomfortable self-reflection that’s she’s not really in the mood for today.

 

“Jeff’s motivations are driven by aspirations of coolness, indifference. What drives you Annie? What really drives you? Last year you were willing to get Chang fired to keep the study group together. But last week you betrayed the school you claim to care about. Why?”

 

Annie pulls her arm away from him and tugs down on the shoulder straps of her backpack. “I told you. It was because of the flag.”

 

“Was it?” He’s watching her in a way that is utterly disconcerting. She should have run away at the first mention of the word  _storylines_.

 

“Annie, do you know why I had yours and Jeff’s characters kiss on my show last year?”

 

“What?!” she squeaks.

 

“There was obvious sexual tension building. I figured a kiss would bring resolution so we could continue having bigger, better adventures.”

 

Annie gapes at him.

 

“But that didn’t work. If anything, it made it worse. The sexual tension’s still there  _and_ we’re not having as much fun.”

 

Annie’s heart is racing. Abed pulls open the door to the dorms and ushers her ahead of him. She blinks into the dim lighting of the hallway.

 

“You’re not having fun Abed?” she asks when he falls back into step with her.

 

He shrugs. “Paintball. That’s what I want. Big. Epic. Messy. But all you guys do lately is talk. Or fight. Everyone seems sad. And I don’t understand that.”

 

“We went to space last week,” she offers gently. “That was exciting.”

 

“But I wasn’t there. Not really.”

 

Annie watches the ground, contemplating what he’s saying. “You don’t understand us? Is  _that_ why you created that film?

 

Abed seems startled. “Maybe.”

 

He keys into his room and she follows him in.

 

“If it makes you feel any better Abed, we’re _all_  confused.”

 

“But you understand that emotion.” He frowns.

 

Annie’s lips part. She’s never really thought before about what it’s like to be him, to see the world through his eyes.

 

“I think you understand more than you think you do Abed. That was pretty sweet what you did for Shirley yesterday.”

 

“We needed an emotional denouement to button the story.”

 

“Abed.” Annie shakes her head and rests her hand on his arm.

 

The look in Abed’s eyes shifts from serious to questioning and then, when she offers him a smile, thankful. He smiles back and they watch each other until Annie can feel an embarrassed warm flush spreading across her cheeks.

 

“Abed.” She makes a twisting motion with her fingers, “Turn around.”

 

“Gotcha.” Abed spins toward the opposite wall and covers his eyes with his both hands.

 

Annie turns too, away from him and starts unbuttoning her shirt. She’s just shrugging it off her arms when suddenly the door flies open and Jeff is striding in.

 

“Abed, do you have- WHA-?” His eyes practically bug out of his head at the sight of Annie standing in the middle of the room in her bra. “THE HELL?!”

 

Annie yelps, clutching the shirt to her chest, trying to cover herself. “JEFF!”

 

“WHAT THE HELL?”

 

“JEFF!” She shrieks even louder.

 

“SERIOUSLY! WHAT THE-“

 

“What’s going on? What’s happening?” Abed asks calmly toward the other wall.

 

“JEFF! GET OUT! GET OUT!”

 

His mouth still gaping, he turns around and kind of smacks into the doorframe as he lurches out of the room.

 

“WHAT THE HELL?” He yells again when he’s on the other side of the door, having left it open a crack.

 

“Annie? Are you still here? What’s going on? Did Jeff see you naked?”

 

“NO!” Annie grabs her blouse from her backpack and yanks it over her head.

 

“Ohhhhhh,” Abed says reverently, “This is just like Friends.”

 

“THIS IS NOT LIKE FRIENDS!” Annie and Jeff both yell.

 

“Sure it is. Remember, Chandler sees Rachel naked. In order to even the score she has to see his-”

 

I AM NOT SHOWING ANNIE MY PENIS!” Jeff yells.

 

“WHAAAAAAT?!”

 

Annie wrenches the door open and stares at Jeff incredulously. To his credit, he looks a little sheepish. A couple people have stopped in the hallway to stare.

 

“Okay. I probably shouldn’t have said that so loud.”

 

She stares at him, horrified as he walks back in and stands between her and Abed, looking back and forth between them with narrowed eyes.

 

“No,” Abed is musing, “Annie’s already seen you naked. Technically this is only fair.”

 

Annie’s face turns an even more impossible shade of red.

 

Jeff looks down at her blouse, then back up at the ceiling quickly, “Okay, someone needs to explain what’s happening here.”

 

“Nothing.” Annie answers quickly. She looks to Abed to back her up and realizes he’s still facing away from them with his hands over his eyes.

 

She rolls her eyes, “You can look now Abed.”

 

“Cool.” He drops his hand and blinks at them. Annie crosses her arms over her chest, still feeling weirdly naked. The room is infused with the tense aura of  _awkward_.

 

Jeff clenches his jaw. “So. Are you two….?”

 

Annie doesn’t answer. Her eyes are darting frantically back and forth between the two men in the room.

 

Abed frowns at him, “Why would it matter?”

 

Jeff’s freezes and Annie’s heart maybe stops a little. “What?” they ask simultaneously and then glance at each other. Jeff averts his eyes quickly.

 

“It doesn’t,” he finally says slowly.

 

Annie feels a surge of annoyance. Abed looks about ready to launch into a pop-culture heavy explanation of this little scene and its ramifications but she cuts him off before he can start, and grabs her bag off the ground.

 

“Well then, it’s not any of your business. What Abed and I do. In his room. Alone.” She smirks at Jeff and flounces from the room without looking back.

 

Her eyes intent on the ground, she practically sprints out of the dorms and as soon as she’s a far enough distance away she stops, covers her cheeks with her hands and slumps against the wall with a groan.

 

 

~*~

 

 

When she rounds the corner she spots him almost immediately at the other end of the hallway. He’s texting and not paying attention and for a second she thinks she can blend into the crowd and pass him by without his noticing. The  _oh hey, I saw you half naked and in Abed’s dorm room and haha that was weird_ conversation is not one she’s ready to have.

 

But then he looks up, locking eyes with her and he’s far enough away that she can’t totally read his expression. His right eyebrow arches curiously and Annie sighs as they begin to weave their way through the crowded hall toward each other.

 

“So.”

 

“So.”

 

He’s flipping his phone around in his hands and she focuses on that, not wanting to meet his eyes now that he’s standing a foot away.

 

“About earlier…” he says slowly.

 

“It never happened,” she cuts him off.

 

He looks at her, unsure. “Really?”

 

Annie nods frantically, “Yup. I’m not even sure what you’re referring to right now.”

 

His jaw twitches, lips quirking into a side smile, “Nothing. I am talking about nothing right now. These are just words. That mean nothing.”

 

“Good.”

 

“Good.”

 

Annie continues nodding and gestures down the hallway with a wave of her hand, “I have to go. To class. Not because… But I have class.” She clamps her mouth shut and bites the side of her tongue to keep from babbling.

 

“Right. Yeah, me too.”

 

Her fists are clenched at her sides as she edges past him and she just wants to go to class and forget that this entire day ever happened but even with her back to him she can still feel his gaze and against her better judgment she looks back over her shoulder.

 

The look she sees in his eyes makes her feel suddenly weightless because there’s  _need_  there, mixed with a little confusion.

 

She offers him a tentative smile. He grins back, tension visibly leaving his shoulders and an hour later when she’s sitting in class pretending to take notes her fingertips still seem to buzz at the memory of the slow shiver that spread through her body when he winked and turned away.

 


	6. Save

He sees a flash of red out of the corner of his eye and Jeff turns to watch Annie making her way down the steps of the library amidst the still lingering chaos of paramedics and confused students. She glances around, lifting her hood back over her head and starts walking briskly down the tree-lined pathway toward the back parking lot, the red cape fluttering around her.

 

It’s late, way past midnight, there’s clearly some kind of ruffie-wielding psycho on the loose and these thoughts are racing through Jeff’s mind as he tugs on his jacket and jogs after her.

 

“Annie! Wait up!”

 

She spins around at the sound of his voice, eyes wide and her basket clutched to her chest.

 

“Oh,” she breathes, “It’s just you.”

 

“Well,  _I’m_  flattered.”

 

Annie unclenches and smiles weakly, peering around him and eyeing the library with distrust, “This place is kind of giving me the creeps right now.”

 

Jeff nods, “I’m pretty sure that’s the new Greendale motto.”

 

She leans in close, whispering, “Jeff, this wasn’t Pierce on an acid trip building a chair fort. This was _really_  weird.”

 

He shrugs, “On the CRAZY scale of 1 to Greendale? I’d still only give this about a 6.”

 

“Jeff!”

 

“Although, I do have some questions about what happened to my jacket.”

 

Annie just stares at him.

 

“It’s doesn’t fit right.” He rolls his shoulders. “It’s stretched out or something. And this is a-”

 

“Six-thousand dollar suit. WE KNOW.” She lets out a noise of exasperation and starts walking away. “Can’t you take _anything_ seriously?”

 

He cocks his head to the side, squinting after her. After a moment he follows, catching up to her in only a few strides.

 

“Annie, I have what appears to be a _human_  bite mark on my neck. Sometimes these things are better left a mystery.”

 

“But one of our classmates might have done this! Someone we see  _every_  day!”

 

Jeff grimaces. “Okay, first? Please don’t use the word  _classmate._  Second, you really want to know? Let’s think about this. Clearly it was someone who has access to drugs right? Someone who knows what he’s doing well enough to take out an entire party? Someone who was  _very_  helpful,  _overly_  helpful even, in aiding the paramedics in there...”

 

Annie narrows her eyes as Jeff taps his finger against his chin.

 

“Someone like a DOCTOR maybe?”

 

 “Rich did NOT ruffie us!”

 

“Hey. _I_  didn’t say it was Dr. McDouchey. YOU inferred it from all the evidence.”

 

They reach Annie’s car and she spins around to face him. “Well, I think it was Chang.”

 

“What’s your proof?”

 

She looks incredulous, “It’s CHANG.”

 

“Okay. It’s hard to argue with that. Chang’s insane enough to do it. But how?”

 

Annie unlocks her car door and tosses the basket inside. “It wasn’t Rich.”

 

“You know, now that I think about it, this makes a lot of sense. And I don’t recall seeing any bite marks on  _him_.”

 

“Ha! He had one on his leg. So there.”

 

Jeff snorts and looks away. “Too bad it wasn’t on his face.” And then he instinctively twists away as she swats at his arm.

 

“WHAT is wrong with you? What do you really have against him?”

 

“Besides the fact that he’s practically the poster child for wannabe serial killers?”

 

Annie crosses her arms over her chest, looking annoyingly smug. “You really can’t handle not being the coolest guy on campus can you?”

 

“He is absolutely NOT cooler than...  _Jesus_  Annie.” He grabs her hand to tug her arm up to the light, noticing for the first time the angry red marks all down her forearms. She tries to pull away but he holds on to her. “What the hell?”

 

“Ohhhhh, I thought it wasn’t a big deal,” she smirks at him.

 

Jeff rolls his eyes and coasts his thumb along one of the marks at her wrist. Annie inhales sharply.

 

“Does it hurt?” And he hates the tone in his voice, tries to bite it back quickly but he can’t help the sudden surge of protectiveness that makes his jaw clench. And there’s a little bit of guilt there too, which is weird because it’s not like _he_  was the one trying to make a snack out of the  _ridiculously_  soft flesh of her inner arm.

 

She hasn’t said anything and Jeff looks up, afraid she’s going to be crying in pain or something. She’s not; but what he sees is almost worse.

 

Her eyes are downcast, watching the back and forth path his thumb makes along her skin and even in the darkness he can see the pink flush rising up her neck and into her face. When he stills his movement her eyes flicker up to his and hold, dark and intent.

 

He registers briefly that they’re alone in a dimly lit parking lot and oh, there’s that guilt again, but above all that, drowning out the perpetual voice screaming  _bad idea, bad idea_ , is an intensely burning curiosity that he suddenly can’t ignore. He tightens the grip on her wrist, his thumb moving higher.

 

“Does it hurt?” he repeats.

 

She blinks at him, then nods once. “The paramedics suggested getting a tetanus shot tomorrow.” Her voice is soft and distant as his hand moves higher.

 

“That’s probably a good idea.”

 

“Mmmhmm.”

 

He reaches the inside of her elbow, fingers slipping under the cuff of her shirt where the bite marks stop and it’s just smooth, pale skin.

 

“You’re okay getting home tonight?”

 

“What?” Annie’s head is titled back enough that the red hood starts to slide down and off. He can see her pulse beating rapidly in her throat and she’s beginning to look a little dazed, eyes heavy-lidded as if he’s already pushed her up against the car and kissed her senseless. He’s abruptly aware of how close she is, that he’s drawing her into him by almost imperceptible increments.

 

“Um. Yeah,” She’s nodding but he can’t remember the question and his fingers are sliding back down her arm, down over her palm, tracing in a circular pattern that makes her fingers twitch and curl inward.

 

“I…” Her voice trembles. “You didn’t have to walk me to my car.”

 

Jeff grins and leans in, “Someone’s got to protect you from the big bad wolf.” His voice gets low and throaty there at the end in a way that makes Annie’s eyes flicker down to his mouth and it’s then that Jeff realizes that he’s completely fucked.

 

He watches her without moving, his hand still around her wrist and clearly he should have had a game plan for how far he was going to let this go because she’s not pulling away and in about four seconds he’s pretty sure he won’t be able to either.

 

Annie’s eyes focus as she seems to make a decision. Her hand at his chest, and he doesn’t even remember when it ended up there, starts sliding up, fingertips trailing gently along the bandage at his neck and up against the scrape of the stubble at his jaw. She cups his cheek, eyes searching his face curiously.

 

Jeff’s breath catches in his throat and stays there and he’s pretty sure he’s going to pass out soon from lack of oxygen. He’s not… this is not supposed to catch him so off guard. This is nothing new for him - seduction, the touch of a woman’s skin, the exploration of an unfamiliar body - but this is Annie and she keeps  _confounding_  everything.

 

Her thumb brushes the corner of his mouth, is just starting to trace down along his lower lip when suddenly there’s a loud crashing noise from the other side of the parking lot. They jump away from each other, Annie with her hand pressed to her throat. A drunken cluster of students standing near a fallen metal trashcan laughs raucously, kicking at scattered pieces of trash.

 

“Um.”

 

Their eyes meet and Annie smiles, a little bemusedly and then they’re both laughing. It’s a relief and in that second his lungs are filling with air Jeff comes to the conclusion that maybe he’s had it all wrong.

 

This entire time he’s somehow been convinced he’s had only two choices. Jump headfirst into whatever this is and inevitably fuck it up. Or. Push her away as hard and as often as possible – an option that was never going to really work because, well, he’s tried it. And she’s still here.  _They’re_  still here.

 

But maybe there’s this other middle ground. A middle ground that’s  _not_  going to end with either of them broken.

 

Annie’s still giggling softly.

 

“Yeaaaaaah,” Jeff says and he feels like he’s agreeing to something neither of them actually voiced. She smiles at him and he reaches up to tug one of her ponytails, “Stay safe Red.”

 

“Good night Jeff.” She gets in her car and he backs away, kicking playfully at the rear tire as she pulls out of the spot and drives off with a little wave.

 

The parking lot is left eerily quiet, the drunken crowd having moved off to vandalize another trashcan no doubt so when a nearby bush begins to shake, leaves rustling noisily against each other, Jeff almost jumps out of his skin.

 

“Hello?”

 

No one answers but the noise continues and Jeff’s about ready to bolt when there’s a loud howling screech and a skinny orange cat comes flying out of the bushes and streaking across the parking lot in a flash of fur and guttural hisses. It disappears into the night and Jeff looks up at the sky, laughing at himself.

 

“It was just a cat. It was just a cat.”

 

 _What_  is this school turning him into?


End file.
